Ricoh R8 Hands-On Review - Ricoh's Rave for Retro
Reviewed on 11 March 2008

Representing a continuation in the Ricoh Caplio R series, the Ricoh R8 takes a turn for the extreme in what appears to be a seeming desire to end ties with the Caplio R family. Firstly dropping the ‘Caplio’ name and also featuring a complete redesign, the R8 turns into an unrecognizable sibling that’s now morphed into a box-like body while getting even bulkier in size. While it may look like a puzzling move by Ricoh, the design nonetheless works to give the camera a stronger feel of quality with dashes of class and professionalism. Not to be overlooked, the R8 rises to the ranks of 10 megapixels and gets matched with Ricoh’s signature 28-200mm wide-angle lens and the popular 1:1 aspect picture ratio shooting.

Doing away with slick designs and glossy finishes, the R8 finds betterment in an old-fashioned, brushed gun-metal body. It's heavily steering towards the more performance-centric and no frills design seen on the Ricoh GR Digital II or the Ricoh Caplio GX100. Different from the smooth lines we’re used to seeing on a compact, the R8's new look actually gives the camera some added character and also what Ricoh calls functional beauty. The improved ergonomics together with the rubberized gripping blends lovely with the hand. Following these radical changes, the 2.7-inch LCD also gets a revamp with a tact-sharp resolution of 460,000 pixels. A redesigned control layout, a bigger ADJ. (adjust) button and a new rotating mode dial are also among the welcomed changes.

With the design of Ricoh’s R series gradually evolving with each new camera, the R8 marks the biggest change of all and also receives doses of improvements on the inside. The most notable of changes include the raised resolution to 10 megapixels on the CCD which will now work in tandem with Ricoh’s Smooth Imaging Engine III, producing lust-worthy high-res images in low noise. Like the R7, the R8 replicates the same ISO range starting from 64 through to 1600 with both Auto and Auto-Hi modes for full ease of use operation.

One of the most defining features of the Ricoh Caplio R series would be the use of outstanding optics. More notably since the Ricoh Caplio R3, Ricoh has been continuing the use of its 28 to 200mm wide angle zoom lens for all cameras in the series and the R8 is no exception. While the lens is the same, the R8 still brings an industry leading 7.1x optical zoom. Ricoh’s step zoom functionality once again complements the zoom lens, with distinct leaps to different focal lengths as opposed to the smooth zoom. This gives exact pinpoint usage of the 7 focal lengths along the zoom range (28mm, 35mm, 50mm, 85mm, 105mm, 135mm and 200mm). What Ricoh could've done even better would be to find a way to silence that zoom noise altogether carried over from the R7. Although comparatively speaking, the R8 is much quieter.

Another great feature of the R8 is the My Settings option where you can store your favourite settings for immediate usage right after power-up. Two groups of personalized settings can be set and they are accessible with just a simple turn on the mode dial. From the positioning of the lens and to assigning key functions on the four-way adjustment button, the My Settings option eases you quicker into shooting. Given a power-up time of 1.4 seconds and shutter lag of 0.011 seconds, the R8 focuses fast and feels very responsive.

With its appearance mirroring the likes of the Caplio GX100 and GR Digital II, the R8 also flashes similarities inside inheriting their popular 1:1 aspect ratio shooting for squared photography. The thing we love about these squared photos is that it gives a nice nostalgic feeling of Polaroid photos used back in the day and practically speaking, squared photos go great with blogs. The in-camera photo editing functions also prove themselves worthy, offering Level Compensation to correct image brightness and White Balance Compensation to correct image colour tones for bringing out the best in photos.

To conclude our reviewing experience, the Ricoh R8’s new design and construction might not be everyone’s cup of tea but it is certainly an advancement compared to previous models. While the R8 is constructed in a bigger size and heavier weight, the body feels much more rugged and well-built on the hands. Performance-wise, the R8 brings subtle improvements to make what was originally a great camera even greater, but among these changes, the quieter AF and zoom noise could be the most welcomed. Offering 10 megapixels to an incredible 7.1x optical zoom lens, the Ricoh R8 is not just a camera with a one of a kind design but also a camera with a one of a kind performance.